Voices Of Homeless Rang Loud And Clear

Message Of Tent Protest Rang Loud And Clear, Lawmakers Say

Alvin Smith, a shy man wearing a battered coat, stood up before a battery of television cameras.

He held out a picture of his 2-year-old son to Democratic presidential candidate Paul Tsongas, who stopped in Hartford Wednesday on a campaign swing.

Smith spoke quietly about his welfare childhood, his life on the streets. "I don't want to see my kid growing up like this. People are dying, physically and mentally. That's why there is so much crime," said Smith. "We must take back our pride. Thank you."

Tsongas, fresh from a Tuesday night trouncing in two primaries, studied Smith.

"I think I just found my vice president," said the candidate in an impeccable blue suit, to the delight of Smith and his cold and tired colleagues from the United Homeless Federation. The members of the Hartford group had slept on the frozen ground the night before, in a "tent city" pitched at the foot of the Capitol. They staged their overnight vigil to protest proposed cuts to the state welfare budget and to ask for jobs.

Their vigil attracted Tsongas' attention. He swore that if he were president he would create more work.

State legislators noticed, too, but made fewer promises.

Leaving the breakfast campaign event at the Polish National Home and heading back to the tent city, Smith's companions ribbed him. One wanted to be his chauffeur when he became vice president. Another offered to be his body guard. Smith laughed. But he said he planned to vote for the first time in his life.

Bob Thomas, an organizer for the homeless group, said the 60 or so poor men and women who were staging the tent city protest, lobbying the legislature and meeting with local and national politicians, were finding their own voices after years of powerlessness and silence.

"They won't ever be the same," Thomas said.

But did their two-day tent encampment change any minds in the Capitol, where legislators must now weigh proposed cuts in aid to the poor against cuts in many other programs, as well as the need to hold taxes down?

A few harried legislators said the little tent city may have at least made an impression. But no one could promise the welfare budget they will be considering would remain intact in a time of deep recession.

Rep. William R. Dyson, D-New Haven, said the campers had made a difference. .

"They have drawn attention to the issues," he said. "Drawing attention causes people to pause, think and govern accordingly."

"I think it's great they are visibly protesting the cuts," said state Rep. Joseph D. Courtney, D-Vernon, a co-chairman of the legislature's human services committee. He said the shame associated with public assistance and homelessness often drove the poor to silence.

He said some states are cutting back drastically on welfare benefits. "In Michigan and Massachusetts they got thrown overboard because they aren't speaking out."

Rep. Edna N. Negron, D-Hartford, said she understood the problems of poverty and homelessness all too well, living in Hartford. But she was worried by the silence of suburban colleagues on the subject of the tent city.

"I haven't brought it up to people. I wanted to see what people would say. Nothing. I sometimes wonder if people choose to be blind."

In the days leading up to the protest, some business leaders said they worried the encampment might overrun the park. In fact, it took only a small corner and raised little notice among area merchants, most of whom did not know why it was taking place. Passers-by stopped to chat or ask questions and sometimes cars honked, but it didn't disrupt the normal flow of activity in the park.

Hartford officials have estimated the cost of the event at about $6,000, mostly for mandatory police and fire protection.

But the money was well-spent, said Mayor Carrie Saxon Perry, whose city stands to lose more than $8 million in welfare reimbursements if the proposed cuts go into effect. Perry visited the tent city Tuesday night and again Wednesday afternoon, as the last few protesters were pulling up stakes.

She said the tent city helped make a point to state decision-makers. And she said the homeless people themselves were empowered by the experience of standing up, being counted and taking poltical action.

"I am absolutely proud of them," she said. "They've been a lot more civilized than a lot of people who have a lot more." Setting off for the nearly empty campground, she added, "I'm going to hug them all now, before they go off into the wilderness.